Publications
Greetings, Court fans! As promised, we’re back with summaries of the four decisions the Court handed down earlier this week. There’s a lot to get through, so we’ll proceed right to it. First up, in Taggart v. Lorenzen (No. 18-489), a unanimous Court provided helpful guidance to anyone who wants to try to collect a […]
Wiggin and Dana partner, David L. Hall, provides prepared testimony before the Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Civilian Security and Trade Committee on Foreign Affairs, with respect to, “Understanding Odebrecht: Lessons for Combating Corruption in the Americas.”
On May 31, Connecticut’s legislature approved comprehensive legislation establishing paid family and medical leave and drastically increasing both the employers covered by the state family and medical leave law and the employees eligible for such leave. This bill is now headed to Governor Lamont for signature, who has already expressed his support for the legislation […]
The National Law Review has published a recent article titled, Why Correctly Understanding Antitrust Risk is Crucial to Properly Addressing Brand Dilution in the E-Commerce Age, which was authored by Wiggin and Dana Partner, Benjamin Diessel and Associate, Timothy Cowan. To read the full article, please click here.
Greetings, Court Fans! Well, we’d hoped to have last week’s update out by Friday, but guess who had other plans? Virginia Katherine Roth, born Thursday, June 13, 2019. Congratulations, Dave! (Nice timing, Virginia.) Since Virginia was born, the Supreme Court has handed down four more opinions (two of which bear her name!): Gamble v. United […]
Greetings, Court Fans! Four more decisions this morning, including a couple of biggies. In American Legion v. American Humanist Association (No. 17-1717), the Court reversed the Fourth Circuit’s decision holding that a memorial “peace cross” on public land violated the Establishment Clause, albeit in a highly fractured decision. Justice Alito wrote a partial-majority/partial-plurality opinion, joined […]
Greetings, Court fans! The Court was back today with another four decisions (still leaving a modest twelve for next week). In Flowers v. Mississippi (No. 17-9572) the Court vacated (by a vote of 7-2) the conviction and death sentence of Curtis Flowers, a black defendant, based on Mississippi prosecutors’ repeated use of peremptory strikes to […]
Effective January 1, 2020, there will be significant changes to Connecticut law concerning the formation, administration and termination of trusts. The recently adopted Connecticut Uniform Trust Code modernizes current law and establishes standards for individuals serving as trustees or in other fiduciary capacities. The new law makes our state an appealing venue for trusts by […]
Greetings, Court Fans! The Nine appear to have settled on four as the ideal number as they lurch toward the end of the term. Just as on Monday, Thursday, and Friday last week, the Court handed down four decisions this morning, bringing the total remaining down to eight. In Iancu v. Brunetti (No. 18-302), involving […]
Wiggin and Dana partners, Robert Langer and John Doroghazi along with Associate Amanda Brahm, have co-authored an important article regarding a key development concerning state consumer protection laws that affect both businesses as well as consumers.
On June 19, 2019, the New York State Assembly and Senate passed legislation making sweeping changes to the New York Human Rights Law. The proposed amendments will make it far more difficult for employers to defend against harassment claims, as a result we are forecasting a significant increase in the number of complaints brought under […]
Effective May 1, 2019, E-1 Treaty Trader and E-2 Treaty Investor visa categories will become available for Israeli nationals. After completing negotiations over several years, the U.S. and Israel have agreed to program specifics for implementing legislation signed by President Obama in June 2012. Israeli traders and investors will now be able to apply for […]
Most employers know that they need to distribute a Summary Plan Description (or “SPD”) that describes the key features of their retirement plans to their employees when they first become eligible to participate in the Plan. But when do SPDs need to be updated? The 210 Day Rule. ERISA (i.e., the federal Employee Retirement Income […]
Greetings, Court Fans! Last week, The Nine heard the final arguments of the term, so we’re officially in the home stretch. We’ve got two decisions and a few orders to report to you today, but first: Save the Date! On May 30th, we will be hosting a discussion of the current term—both a look back […]
On April 23, 2019, the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities issued a Best Practices Blue Paper offering guidance to employers on how to deal with accommodation requests related to pregnancy, childbirth, and related conditions. The full text of the guidance is available here. This guidance explains the obligations imposed on companies with three […]
On April 30, 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) issued revised guidance for evaluating corporate compliance programs. DOJ’s Evaluation of Corporate Compliance sets forth eleven key evaluation topics that prosecutors may consider when deciding whether to file criminal charges against a company or what penalty to impose. Unlike DOJ’s original 2017 guidance, the revised […]
What is Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) reporting? Federal regulations require that certain covered facilities report toxic releases to air, discharges to surface waters, and quantities shipped offsite as wastes by July 1, covering the previous calendar year. TRI reporting derives from the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), which was enacted in 1986 in […]
Greetings, Court Fans! The Nine handed down three more decisions this morning, which we’ll have summarized for you in due course, but this Update will cover last week’s news, John Oliver style. There were also three decisions last week, including a significant antitrust defeat for Apple and a decision overruling a somewhat obscure precedent, which […]
Wiggin and Dana attorneys Erika L. Amarante and Laura Ann P. Keller have written an article in the May edition of For the Defense, DRI’s monthly magazine for defense, insurance and corporate counsel. Entitled “Wrongful Death Before Birth,” the article reviews the circumstances under which an unborn fetus might assert a claim for wrongful death due to […]
The issue of what it really means for a trademark licensee when a debtor-licensor “rejects” its trademark license is crucially important. Does the licensee lose their rights to continue to use the trademark, or not? In Mission Product Holdings, Inc. v. Tempnology, LLC, No. 17-1657, slip op. (May 23, 2019). the Supreme Court resolved a […]
Greetings, Court Fans! The annual June deluge has commenced, with four new opinions yesterday: Azar v. Secretary of Health and Human Services (No. 17-1484), holding that the Government violated its statutory obligation to provide notice and a 60-day comment period when it issued a new rule regarding Medicare payments to hospitals; Taggart v. Lorenzen (No. […]
Today, the Department of Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published in the Federal Register amendments to regulations affecting travel to Cuba. The amendments: Eliminate authorization for people-to-people educational travel that is unrelated to an undergraduate or graduate degree program; andGenerally prevent travel to/from […]
On June 3, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision resolving a split among the Circuit Courts regarding the parameters of a procedural defense available to employers in Title VII cases. In Fort Bend County v. Davis, the Court held that Title VII’s EEOC charge-filing condition (also applicable to ADA claims) is a procedural […]
The Connecticut Supreme Court made national news this month when it issued a landmark decision in a case arising from the horrific mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. In Soto v. Bushmaster Firearms International, et al., the Court held that Connecticut law permits, and federal law does not preempt, certain state-law civil claims by […]
Greetings, Court Fans! The Court was back in action this week, with perhaps its most active week of the term so far. On Tuesday, the Court issued three decisions, adding two more on Wednesday and a number of cert grants for next term, to boot. Besides the uptick in volume, the decisions are also becoming […]
Wiggin and Dana Partner, Paul Tuchmann, has published an article titled From the Basketball Court To Federal Court for the Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity (CAPI), a program at Columbia Law School. To read the full article, please click here.
Wiggin and Dana Patent Counsel, Anthony Sabatelli, has co-published an article titled Antibody-Drug Conjugates: Further Patents on Linkers, which appeared as a Guest Post on Patent Docs. To read the full article, please click here.
Wiggin and Dana Partner, Michael Menapace, and Carlton Fields Shareholder, Barry Weissman, have co-authored, Use of Data Rooms in Arbitration, which appeared in the 1st Quarter 2019 issue of ARIAS•U.S. Quarterly. In this article, Menapace and Weissman explain what a data room is and how it works, describes the advantages and limitations of using a data room, and offer practical tips […]
Wiggin and Dana Partners, Robert Langer and Jonathan Freiman, have authored an article in the Connecticut Law Tribune regarding the Connecticut Supreme Court's recent ruling in Soto v. Bushmaster Firearms International. To read the full article, please use the resource below.
Art dealers and intermediaries are about to face new transparency regulations in several European nations. Art brokers and dealers involved in any cross-border transactions with people in E.U. nations should pay careful attention to the new rules as they roll out over the next year. I. New European Union Rules A recent European Council Directive […]